VZCZCXYZ0083
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMO #0589/01 0611336
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011336Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6911
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000589 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PINR RS
SUBJECT: MEDVEDEV:  WHAT HE SAYS, WHAT HE DOES 
 
REF: MOSCOW 431 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns.  Reasons:  1.4 (b,d). 
 
 ¶1. (C) Summary:  During the two months that separate Dmitriy 
Medvedev's election March 2 from his inauguration, much will 
become clear about his power-sharing arrangement with 
outgoing President and incoming Prime Minister Putin. 
Following keynote speeches by Medvedev before fellow lawyers, 
civil society representatives, and Siberian elites, an 
extended magazine interview, and comments to the press and 
voters at various venues around the country, Medvedev the 
President is beginning to come into focus.  The local media 
have been filled with articles --some hopeful, others 
dismissive-- that make reference to the "thaw" experienced 
under then-General Secretary Khrushchev in attempting to 
frame a Medvedev presidency based on the scant information 
available.  Dramatic change seems unlikely, but some of 
Medvedev's comments suggest a different vector for Russia 
after May 7. What follows is a partial list of possible 
changes to watch for after Russia's third President takes 
office.  End summary. 
 
Rule of Law 
------------ 
 
¶2. (C) Medvedev has scored the importance of an independent 
judiciary in his frequent references to the dangers posed by 
"legal nihilism."  His remedies for the problems posed by 
Russia's dysfunctional court system have ranged from sweeping 
social change, which would have citizens become more 
law-abiding, to ending the practice of "telephone law," to 
urging judges to restrict their contacts with the business 
world.  He has also proposed that citizens be compensated for 
losses incurred through judicial error and mis-application of 
the law.  In possible anticipation of a Medvedev presidency 
the Head of the Federal Prison System proposed this week 
measures that would allow prisoners convicted of less serious 
crimes to serve their sentences outside prison. 
 
¶3. (C) With the judiciary --along with the absence of a free 
press, and a hamstrung civil society-- acting as a drag on 
the development of democracy and providing an environment in 
which corruption can flourish, any steps Medvedev would take 
to insulate judges from outside pressure and increase the 
transparency of the legal process would be important.  A 
first such step might be seeing through to passage a bill, 
that has already passed its first reading in the Duma, that 
would increase the transparency of the judiciary by 
facilitating citizen access to court hearings and documents. 
Medvedev's legal background would make this a natural 
stepping off place. 
 
Bureaucrats Out of Business 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) In addition to the specific economic measures promoted 
in his February 15 Krasnoyarsk speech (reftel), Medvedev has 
argued that the practice of unqualified civil servants 
simultaneously working in state corporations should come to 
an end.  Measures taken to end the institutionalized conflict 
of interest would be an important development in the battle 
against corruption. 
 
¶5. (C) Medvedev in Krasnoyarsk returned twice to the subject 
of small businesses, noting that the opportunity cost of 
starting a small business should be reduced, and calling for 
a "radical simplification of tax responsibilities." 
 
Bureaucrats Out of the Bureaucracy 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Medvedev has argued that functions currently 
accomplished by the bureaucracy be privatized, where 
appropriate.  As he said in Krasnoyarsk:  "A significant part 
of the functions performed by the government must be 
transferred to the private sector."  As important, has been 
Medvedev's repeated assertion that the balance of power 
between government and society must change, with civil 
servants understanding that they are accountable to Russian 
citizens, and not the other way around. This theme has run 
through Medvedev's comments on the judiciary, regulations 
governing business start-ups, and taxation.  On Putin's 
watch, the number of civil servants has grown by leaps and 
bounds, as have the benefits they enjoy.  With the growing 
size and influence of the civil service has come a shift 
among young job seekers.  Polls regularly show that they 
prefer a career in the civil service to one in the private 
sector.  Reversing the trend of more public sector employees 
and doing more --another Medvedev desirable-- to simplify job 
creation in the private sector, would help indirectly restore 
the balance of power between the state and its citizens. 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶7. (C) In comments while in Nizhniy Novgorod on February 27, 
Medvedev touched on the subject of non-governmental 
organizations.  Unlike Putin, who has routinely issued harsh 
warnings about foreign financing of NGOs, Medvedev tone was 
considerably more moderate.  He told his audience that NGO 
funding should not come "only" from abroad, by way of urging 
greater philanthropy and the development of civil society in 
Russia.  Reduced pressure on existing NGOs and an effort to 
suspend some of the more onerous reporting provisions of the 
current NGO, along the lines detailed in Human Rights Watch 
recent 2008 report on the NGO sector, would be a step in the 
right direction and would respond to calls by the Human 
Rights Ombudsman and Chairwoman of the President's Human 
Rights Council. 
 
Corruption 
---------- 
 
¶8. (C) Medvedev has spoken often of the need to root out 
corruption, which has worsened significantly on Putin's watch 
and is acting as a significant drag on the economy.  On 
February 27, he promised that a plan for fighting corruption 
would be ready "in a few months," and would include not just 
legislative measures, but also measures intended to create an 
"atmosphere of no tolerance" for corruption.  The plan 
Medvedev was likely referring to was the package of measures 
being prepared by an intra-governmental team headed by Viktor 
Ivanov to implement Russia's adoption of the UN COE 
conventions against corruption.  Any comprehensive effort to 
attack corruption would be welcome after months of piecemeal 
attacks, many of which seemed to have more to do with 
settling political scores than reducing corruption itself. 
 
Less Brezhnevian Television 
--------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) The television news under Putin has not become the 
"dog-walking hour" it was during the Soviet period only 
because urban Russians now have DVDs to watch and the 
internet to scour for the news.  Loosening the reins on tv, 
to allow a wider spectrum of viewpoints would send an 
important signal.  Medvedev opened his key Krasnoyarsk policy 
speech with a paean to "freedom," and elsewhere in the speech 
spoke of the necessity of "the real independence of the mass 
media, in order to create a channel of communication between 
society and the authorities."  Allowing on television even 
moderate critics of the current administration would be an 
important first step, as would be fewer news hours devoted to 
the doings of the President. 
 
Less Putinesque Rhetoric 
------------------------ 
 
¶10. (C) It has been frequently pointed out the Medvedev comes 
from a different social stratum --what used to be called the 
"technical intelligentsia"-- than Putin, whose more working 
class background shows in his fondness for earthy 
expressions.  The difference in upbringing alone should 
produce a difference in tone with Medvedev at the helm, 
including less vilification of Russia's "enemies" abroad, and 
less recourse to instruments like "Nashi" and the extravagant 
use of special forces troops to deal with groups like Other 
Russia domestically. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (C) As critics have noted, Medvedev's calls for greater 
freedom, two-way channels of communication between society 
and government, reduced corruption, tamed bureaucrats, strong 
civil society, and a less cumbersome tax regime were 
frequently issued by Putin during his two terms as President 
to little effect.  The initial months of a Medvedev 
presidency should allow observers to take the measure of his 
seriousness.  Although Medvedev and Putin during the 
succession have been at pains to suggest that they will work 
as equals as President and Prime Minister, in one revealing 
comment during his "Itogi" interview, Medvedev insisted that 
Russia will remain a presidential republic with the decisive 
power in his hands after May 7.  Meaningful change in some of 
the areas sketched above, after years of regression or 
stagnation under Putin, would suggest that Medvedev is 
serious about realizing the vision of Russia he has sketched 
during the campaign. 
BURNS